Currency.com vs. BitMEX

Many cryptocurrency traders are looking to take their strategies beyond standard spot markets, resulting in an increase of popularity for cryptocurrency exchanges that offer leveraged trading and the option to short cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency leverage trading space has evolved considerably in recent years, and traders can now choose between established players such as BitMEX as well as exciting new contenders like Currency.com.

This article will feature a comparison of the most important aspects of both these exchanges to help you decide which type of cryptocurrency leverage trading platform is right for you. Before we get started, let's do a quick comparison of the most important points:

With that basic comparison out of the way, let's take a closer look at the two contenders.

Background and regulation

Currency.com is a regulated exchange, and adheres to the regulatory standards of the High Tech Park initiative in Belarus. In addition to its Minsk offices, the company behind the exchange also has offices in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar. Currency.com is compliant with AML standards and undergoes annual audits that have to be performed by a "Big 4" professional services firm. Belarus saw the potential of cryptocurrency earlier than most other countries, and established legal frameworks for the crypto industry, including ICOs, exchanges and tokenized assets, in 2017.

HDR Global Trading Limited, the operator of BitMEX, is registered in the Seychelles. The loose regulatory environment gives BitMEX more flexibility in terms of the products it can offer to its customers, but the lack of regulatory oversight might be a turn-off for some users. According to Craft.co, BitMEX has offices in Hong Kong, the United States and the Seychelles.

Supported cryptocurrencies

The two exchanges feature a somewhat similar selection of crypto assets, but BitMEX has the advantage here with 8 listed cryptocurrencies compared to Currency.com's 5.

Despite offering less cryptocurrencies in total, Currency.com does actually have more trading pairs than BitMEX. Currency.com provides pairs denominated against BTC, USD, EUR, RUB and BYN for the coins it lists. On the other hand, BitMEX's trading products are either denominated in BTC or USD, and this varies from product to product.

Compared to some of the competitors like Binance Futures, both platforms could benefit from expanding their range of listed cryptocurrencies.

Interface and customer support

Both Currency.com and BitMEX have done a good job with their user interfaces. With its dark look, the Currency.com interface is perhaps a bit more visually appealing than BitMEX's, but both interfaces do a good job in terms of functionality.

When you log in to Currency.com, you can browse the different tradeable assets on the left side of the interface, while the trading itself is positioned to the right. Everything an ordinary user would need is accessible instantly, and the interface is also easy to understand for less experienced traders.

Currency.com trading interface

BitMEX's interface comes out ahead in terms of customization, as its design allows traders to move different elements of the trading interface such as the orderbook and open positions around the screen. If you're bored and just waiting for the price to reach your entry level, you can have some fun in the "trollbox", BitMEX's notorious live user chat. However, just as the chat's name implies, you probably shouldn't expect high quality discussion from the trollbox. You can also switch the color scheme of the BitMEX to night mode, if you prefer a darker look.

BitMEX trading interface

Both exchanges offer customer support that will be able to quickly solve the most commonly encountered problems. Both Currency.com and BitMEX also have extensive FAQ sections that explain the platforms' trading products and features.

Order types

Currency.com gives users the option between a market order and a limit order when they're looking to enter a position. The platform also gives users the option of specifying stop loss and take profit levels as they're submitting a trade. The option to cancel the order if its not executed before a set time and date is also available.

BitMEX offers a slightly more complex range of orders. Traders can also select between market, limit, stop limit, stop market, trailing stop, take profit limit, and take profit market orders.

Overall, Currency.com's trading functionality is more geared towards accessibility, while BitMEX is targeting advanced users with its more complex and flexible trading experience.

Deposits and withdrawals

Currency.com provides a lot of flexibility when it comes to deposits and withdrawals. The exchange supports fiat currency and accepts deposits with Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, cryptocurrencies, as well as a number of other payment options.

BitMEX is a Bitcoin-only platform - the only currency you can deposit and withdraw from BitMEX is BTC. Even if you're trading the ETH/USD contract, for example, you enter the position with BTC and your profits and losses are also denominated in BTC.

If you value having the ability to fund your account with different payment methods, Currency.com is the clear winner in this area.

Perpetual contracts are by far the most popular trading instruments offered by BitMEX. When trading these contracts, you will be charged a 0.075% taker fee. The maker fee, on the other hand, is -0.025%. The funding rate that applies when trading these contracts will change depending on market conditions. BitMEX does not charge fees on Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals. Of course, you will still have to pay the network fee that is necessary for each Bitcoin transaction.

Leverage

When it comes to trading BTC/USD, both Currency.com offer up to 100x leverage. The maximum leverage cap changes, depending on the asset. Notably, you can trade ETH/USD with 100x leverage on Currency.com, while BitMEX tops out at 50x for this trading pair.

When trading on Currency.com, you can choose between using 2x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 50x and 100x leverage.

On BitMEX, you can be more precise when adjusting your leverage. While BitMEX's approach might be a bit harder to grasp when you're first starting out, it does give you more flexibility.

Mobile apps

BitMEX does not offer an official mobile app at the moment.

Currency.com offers a mobile app on both the iOS and Android platforms. The app adopts its aesthetics from Currency.com's web platform, but is designed specifically for seamless mobile use. You can set up instant price alerts through the Currency.com app, which is an essential feature to have on a mobile device. The Currency.com app cuts almost no corners and is very similar in functionality compared to the Currency.com desktop platform.

Non-crypto assets

In addition to trading cryptocurrencies, Currency.com also enables users to trade popular stocks, forex markets, commodities, indices and ETFs. There are hundreds of different markets to choose from and the platform provides exceptional flexibility for those who would like to trade both cryptocurrencies and traditional markets. The shares, commodities and indices listed on Currency.com are tokenized.

BitMEX is purely focused on cryptocurrencies, and doesn't offer any markets based on non-crypto assets. If you're looking to trade markets other than cryptocurrencies, you'll be better off elsewhere.

KYC requirements

Currency.com and BitMEX are completely opposite in regards to their know your customer (KYC) requirements. BitMEX does not request any personal information from traders and pretty much everyone can set up an account and trade on BitMEX as long as they have some Bitcoin and don't live in one of the exchange's prohibited jurisdictions.

As a regulated platform that also accepts fiat currency, Currency.com is required to adhere to regulations regarding KYC. You'll have to verify your identity and provide some personal info in order to complete your account and start trading on Currency.com.

Security

The good news here is that neither Currency.com nor BitMEX have had any of their customers' funds stolen thus far.

Currency.com offers two-factor authentication, PGP/GPG for email encryption, and secure systems for identity verification. Currency.com uses cold wallets to store the majority of the cryptocurrencies deposited to the exchange. Currency.com uses LD4 Equinix servers, which are also used by some of the world’s foremost stock exchanges. According to Currency.com, their platform’s order matching and trade execution engine can handle up to 50 million transactions per second.

According to BitMEX, their platform employs a "first-of-its-kind multisignature deposit and withdrawal scheme" to protect their customers' Bitcoin holdings. BitMEX leverages Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its systems. The BitMEX trading engine uses kdb+, which is a type of database that's also used by financial institutions for high-frequency trading purposes.

The bottom line

Currency.com and BitMEX are both worthy contenders in the cryptocurrency leverage trading market. However, the two exchanges seem to be geared towards different types of traders.

For users who value multiple deposit and withdrawal options, great mobile functionality and the ability to trade traditional markets, Currency.com certainly makes a lot of sense. If trading on a regulated platform is of importance to you, that's another point in favor of Currency.com.

Meanwhile, the distinguishing features of BitMEX are its no-KYC policy, quick account setup, great liquidity and specialization for cryptocurrency trading.